I. ˈdrōn noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English drane, drone, from Old English drān, drǣn; akin to Old Saxon dreno, dran drone, Old High German treno, Middle Low German drone drone, Old Norse drynja to roar, Gothic drunjus sound, Old English drēam joy, mirth, music, Late Greek thrōnax drone, Greek thorybos confused noise, Latvian duñduris wasp, Sanskrit dhraṇati it sounds; basic meaning: buzzing, murmuring
1. : a male bee ; especially : the male of the honeybee that develops from an unfertilized egg, is larger and stouter than the worker, lacks a sting, takes no part in honey gathering or care of the hive, and is of use to the colony only if a virgin queen requires insemination — see drone cell
2. : one that lives on the labors of others : idler , parasite
a new Utopia in which robots … do all the work while human drones recline in pneumatic bliss — John Diebold
3.
a. : a pilotless airplane remote-controlled by radio signals (as from another airplane)
b. : a seagoing ship remote-controlled by radio
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to make a sustained deep murmuring, humming, or buzzing sound
threshing machine was droning like a gigantic swarm of June beetles — Ellen Glasgow
b. : to talk in a persistently dull or monotonous tone
eyes closed and heads nodded as he droned on and on
2. : to live in idleness like a drone bee
who would drone when he might live by honest labor
: be inactive; also : drowse
found him droning by the fire — Western Review
3. : to pass or proceed in a dull, drowsy, or uneventful manner
the chill November days droned by — Earle Birney
: act or perform in a drowsy, routine, or indifferent manner
droned through Bryce's two fat volumes — H.J.Laski
transitive verb
1. : to utter or pronounce with a drone
droning out dull papers on dull subjects
2. : to pass or spend in idleness
droned away the precious years of youth
or in dull or monotonous activity
droned away the years in the dust of musty libraries
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: drone (II)
1.
a. : bagpipe
b.
(1) : one of the usually three pipes on a bagpipe that sound fixed continuous tones as accompaniment to the melody played by the chanter
(2) : one or more strings on a medieval bowed instrument playing a drone accompaniment to the melody
c. : the sound emitted by the drone of a bagpipe
2. : any deep sustained or monotonous sound : hum
a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the fields — Rudyard Kipling
: a monotonous tone of voice
the steady drone of some tiresome old bore
3.
a. or drone bass : an unvarying sustained bass note in a musical composition (as a pastoral) : pedal point
b. : one who speaks monotonously (as with a drawl)
IV. noun
: one who does menial, routine, or boring work : drudge